Rig of sailing vessels.



No. 795,025.. PATENTED JULY 18, 1905. B. W. COLLINS.

RIG OF SAILING VBSSELS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 10, 1903.

' s SHEEN-SHEET 1.

Witnesses PATENTBD JULY 18, ,1905.

B. W. COLLINS.

RIG OP SAILING VESSELS.

APPLIOA'IION PI LEED AUG. 10 1903.

3 SHBETS-SHBBT 3.

Inventor Attorneys UNITEDI STATES Patented July 18, 1905.

BYRON WALTER COLLINS, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS.

RIG OF SAILING VESSELS- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 795,025, dated July 18,1905,

Original application filed December 19, 1902, Serial No. 135,941. Divided and this application filed August 10, 1903. Serial No. 169,031.

To a whom it nwty concern.-

Be it known that I, BYRON WALTER COLLINS, acitizen of the United States, residing at Evanston, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Rig of Sailing Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in a rig of sailing vessels of that gen eral class forming the subject of United States Letters Patent granted to me on the 26th day of April, 1904:, No. 758,171, and of which this application is a division.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a novel form of tack that will automatically slacken the luff of a sail during movement of the boom while taking in sail andwhich will automatically draw the lufi of a sail toward the mast or similar support while the sail is being set.

A further object of the invention is to provide a two-part sail for a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel, in connection with an angularly-disposed boom, that will support both the foot and the leech of the sail and hold the same flat, or nearly so, when subjected to windpressure.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts herein described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of the vessel, showing the foremast, jib, and foresail. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the lower portion of the foresail with the boom fully elevated. Fig. 3 is a similar view with the boom partly lowered, showing the slacking of the automatic tack. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the pivoted lever and arm for carrying the jib. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional elevation of the same on the line 5 5 of Fig.

4. Fig. 6 is a detail view of a portion of the fixed mast and pivoted lever, showing the tackle arranged between the two.- Fig. 7 is a detail view illustrating the employment of guys between the top of the pivoted lever and the foot of the sail-supporting arm. Fig. 8 is a plan view of a portion of the deck, showing the mounting of one of the pivoted levers. Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view of the same on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is an elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the pivotal connection between the fixed mast and the sail-supporting arm. Fig. 11 is a sectional View of the same on the line 11 11 of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a plan view of the foreboom detached.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings, 1 designates a portion of the vessel forming a support for a mast 2, which may be secured in position in the usual manner.

In front of the mast is pivoted a lever 4, the connection with the hull, as shown in Figs.

8 and 9, being such as to permit lateral play of the lever in order that the sail which it supports may move outward to one side or the other of the vessel. To the upper end of the pivoted lever is swiveled a sail-carrying arm 5, at the upper end of which is an eye 6, fitting around a cable 7 that extends from the head to the foot of the stationary mast 2 and forms a guide and support for said sailcarrying arm. The lower end of the sail-carrying arm is connected to a bowsprit 8 by a sheet 9, which preferably is carried inboard to a securing-cleat at the how. The sail-carrying arm serves as a support for an angularly-disposed boom 10, the jaw of which embraces the sail-carrying arm, while the aft and lower end of the boom is connected to a point corresponding to the clue of an ordinary sail. The end of the boom is connected by a sheet 11 to a suitable securing device on the deck, and the arrangement is such as to permit the boom to swing to either starboard or port, as desired. The sail carried by the arm 5 is divided into two sections 12 and 13,

that may occupy all of the space between the pivoted lever and the boom or may extend beyond the pivoted lever to a point adjacent to the fixed mast. The lower or foot portion of the section 12 is secured to the boom in any Suitable manner, and between the jaw of the boom and the connection with the pivoted lever the usual slide-rings 14: are used. When the peak of the sail terminates forward of the pivoted lever, the halyard is run through a block at the pivotal point and thence is led down to a belay-table 15 at the foot of the pivoted lever. When the peak of the sail is extended above the pivoted lever, it becomes necessary, in addition to the main halyard, to employ a pair of tacks or halyards, as shown at 16, one being disposed on each side of the pivoted lever and being employed, respectively, when sailing on starboard and port tacks. Owing to the swinging movement of the sail-carrying arm, it becomes advisable to run all of the halyards to the belay-table at the foot of the mast, where they may be in convenient reach at all times, and also to prevent slackening of the halyards when the sails are moved outboard to either side of the boat. The halyards are reeved through guides 17 in the form of sectional sleeves, each having a plurality of antifriction-rollers 18 for engagement with the halyard. The sections are curved, and one end of the sleeve is connected to the upper portion of the pivoted lever, while the opposite end of said sleeve is connected to the sail-carrying arm, so that free swinging movement of the latter may be allowed without danger of the halyards being strained or becoming slack. The halyards are reeved through blocks 18 at the top of the sail-carrying arm and are then connected to the peak of the sail.

. When sailing on one tack, the peak of the sail is hauled to the head of the arm on the lee side of the pivoted lever by the lee-tack halyard,while the weather-tack halyard passes idly from the peak of the sail down around the pivoted lever to the weather side and thence back up to the pulley at the head of the arm.

When changing from one leg (tack) to the other, as the vessel rounds into the wind the former lee halyard is cast off or paid out and the former weather halyard is hauled in until the head or peak of the sail is drawn down and around to the other side of the pivoted lever and thence up again to the arm-head. The said halyard is then secured to the belaytable, the former lee halyard following the course of the sail tack or peak, but in turn remaining idle.

The lower triangular section 13 of the sail 'is arranged between the sail-carrying arm and the boom, the connectionwith the boom being of any desired character and the clue of the sail being made fastto the end of the boom. The luff of the sail is provided with a plurality of small rollers 20, arranged in pairs at suitable intervals along the Ind, and on sailcarrying arm are arranged rings 21, each carrying a single block or roller 22. Through all these blocks is reeved a tack 24:, the lower end of which is secured to an eye 25, and then passes throughone of the blocks on the luff of the sail and thence back through one of the blocks 22, carried by a lower or fixed ring on the sail-carrying arm. The tack thence passes alternately through the blocks carried by the luff and those carried by the sliding rings 21 until it reaches the peak, where it is reeved through a block 25 at the jaw of the boom, and is then led down to a cleat 26 at thelower end of the sail-carrying arm. This tack is so arranged as to slacken when the boom is lowered, so as to compensate for the increased lateral stretch of the boom as it assumes a horizontal position when taking in sail, and the length of the tack and its connection must be dependent on the area of the sail, the angle of the boom with relation to the sail-carrying arm, and the length of the luff.

When setting sail, the slack will be automatically taken up as the jaw of the boom is elevated and the lufi? of the sail will be drawn close to the sail-carrying arm, while in lowering sail the tack will be automatically slackened and the boom allowed to descend without injury to the canvas and without strain on any of the parts.

To the rear of the fixed mast is arranged a pivoted lever 30, on the upper end of which is arranged a sleeve 31, to which is pivoted a sleeve 32, rigidly secured to a sail-carrying arm 33. The upper end of the sail-carrying arm has a fixed sleeve 34;, that is pivotally connected to a vertically-movable sleeve 35, carried by the fixed mast 2, and when the pivoted lever moves laterally either to the port or starboard this slidable sleeve will descend to an extent proportionate to the outward.

movement. The lower end of the sail-carrying arm is connected by a sheet 36 to a ring or other fixed point on the boat, and this sailcarrying arm is provided with an angularlyarranged boom 37 the jaw of which embraces the arm, while the outer and lower end of the boom is connected to the clue of the sail. As the boom is supported on both sides by the sections of the sail, it is possible to employ a much lighter boom than that in ordinary use and the strain is more evenly distributed. When using a light boom, it is preferably braced by stays 27, extending over crosstrees carried by an intermediate portion of the boom. The foresail is divided into two sections 38 and 39, of which the lower section is connected to the boom and sail-carrying arm in the same manner as'that already described in connection with the lower section of the staysail, and the upper portion 38 is connected to the boom and sail-carrying armin the same manner ast'he section 12 of the staysail. When necessary, the amount of slack may be increased blocks.

by reeving the tack through two sets of blocks 26, arranged at the bottom of the sail-carrying arm and at the top of the boom, so that as the blocks near each other and the plural layers become shorter a single layer of slack will be afforded and the amount of slack will of course be proportionate to the number of In order to obtain the necessary extra purchase to haul the extreme foot of the luff securely to the fixed ring at the lower end of the arm, the two lower blocks of the series 20 and 22 may contain any desired number of sheaves and the tack passing from the eye 22 may be given any desired number of turns or plies between these two upper blocks before being reeved on upward through the plurality of rollers on the luff and sliding rings. The sail-carrying arm 33 carries a gaff 5.1 0, the jaw of which is somewhat above the "jaw of the boom, and the space thus afiorded between the two will permit of reefing at the top of the foresail should it become necessary, While the foot of the sail remains perfectly clear and offers no obstruction to the wind. The gaff is supported by throat and peak halyards 41 and 42, as shown. The pivoted arm also carries an arm 43, between which and the top of the gaff is a topsail 414:, which may be taken in when necessary, leaving the lower portion of the foresail to extend outboard and by decreasing the load aloft to permit the windpressure to operate more advantageously in raising the boat to an even keel when tacking. The aft end of the boom 37 is connected by a sheet 53 to a fixed eye or other support on the deck in order to permit outward movement of the boom and sail to any desired extent. When reefing the upper portion of the foresail, it will be found that the aft leech of the sail gradually extends farther from the sail-supporting arm from the peak of the sail downward, and the gaff must therefore remain a trifle longer than would be the case if reefing was unnecessary. This may be provided for by placing a small detachable section at the end of the gaff and removing the same when the sail is fully set.

In order to partly relieve the sheets, a tackle '59 may be connected between the fixed mast and the pivoted lever in order that the strain -may be more evenly distributed and the rigging may be made more stable by running guy-lines from the head of the pivoted lever to the bottom of the sail-carrying arm, as shown in Fig. 8, one of the guys being arranged on each side, and the lee-guy when hauled taut proving a valuable support to the pivoted arm in a rolling sea.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. In asailing vessel, a sail-supporting arm, a boom arranged at an angle with respect to the arm, a sail arranged below the boom and in the angle between the boom and the arm, slidable rings carried by the arm, a series of blocks carried by the rings and the luff of the sail, and an automatic tack reeved through said blocks.

2. In asailing vessel, a sail-supporting arm, a boom arranged at an angle to the arm, a sail arranged below the boom and in the angle between the boom and arm, slidable rings carried by the arm, blocks disposed alternately on the rings and on the luff of the sail, and an automatic tack reeved through all of the blocks and having its opposite ends secured to fixed points.

3. In asailing vessel, asail-supporting arm, a boom arranged at an angle with respect to the arm, slidable rings carried by the arm, a plurality of blocks arranged alternately on the rings and on the luff of the sail, auxiliary sets of blocks disposed one on the arm and the other at the throat of the boom, and an automatic tack reeved through the blocks and having its opposite ends connected to fixed points.

4:. In a fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel, a two-part sail, and an angularly-disposed boom extending between and connected to both parts of the sail, the outer end of the boom being connected to the clues of both parts of said sail.

5. In a fore-and-aft-rig sailing vessel, a two-part sail, a boom extending between the two parts of the sail and secured thereto, the jaw of the boom being arranged higher than the peak and the latter being secured to the clues of both parts of the sail.

6. In a rigging of the class described, a mast, a pivoted lever, a sail-carrying arm, a sail carried by the arm and extending upward above the point of connection between the arm and lever, and a pair of halyards arranged one on each side of the lever and extended upward following the lines of the lever and arm and connected to the peak of the sail.

7. In a rigging of the class described, a fixed mast, a pivoted lever, a sail-carrying arm pivoted to said lever and to the mast, and guys extending from the head of the fixed mast to the foot of the arm.

8. In a rigging of the class described, a halyard-guide formed of a plurality of pivotally-connected sections, and antifriction-rollers carried by said sections.

9. In a rigging of the class described, a pivoted lever, a sail-carrying arm pivotally connected to said lever, and a sleeve formed of a plurality of pivotally-connected sections and carrying antifriction-rollers,- one end of the sleeve being connected to the lever and the other end to the arm.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

BYRON WALTER COLLINS.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM L. BOETTOHER, C. H. ALLEN. 

